


Old-New Dogs, New-Old Tricks

by ivegotpurple



Category: Naruto
Genre: Brotp, Feel-good, Feels, Ficlet, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, One Shot, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Youth, everyone loves Gai, it takes a village
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 17:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10701258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivegotpurple/pseuds/ivegotpurple
Summary: Genma meets with Gai in the hospital after the end of the Fourth Ninja War





	Old-New Dogs, New-Old Tricks

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little ficlet I whipped up while answering [this character ask on tumblr](https://purple-possibilities.tumblr.com/post/159583512579/send-me-a-character) for my lovely boy [Genma](https://purple-possibilities.tumblr.com/post/159842604264/mreyes1994-requested-genma-for-the-character).  I started writing it halfway through my rant about how I think Gai would never let Genma stop being friends with him after their genin team broke up (it’s Gai people, what do you expect?).  This takes place after the war, while Gai is in the hospital recovering from having opened the Eighth Gate and miraculously surviving.  How did this reach 1.5k?

“Ah, my most Youthful Teammate, it’s been some time since I last saw you,” Gai said, his cheer a little more forced than normal, as he was stuck in a hospital bed, still recovering from opening the Gate of Death during the war.

Genma sighed. “You idiot.  I can’t believe—no never mind.  I’ve been telling you for years that one day that technique would kill you.”  

“Ah, but I’m not dead quite yet.”  The words were said with a megawatt smile, but Genma could see behind it.  Even without roughly twenty years of friendship, Genma picked up on the underlying meaning.  For someone like Gai, who was so active and relied so heavily on his body, losing the ability not just to walk, but to be a shinobi, was a cruel blow.  

Of course, Gai would do it again in a heartbeat—Genma had lost track of the many times Gai had jumped in front of an attack, or attempted to sacrifice himself to save another.  But this penalty was different than what Gai had anticipated.  He thought he was going to  _die_ , not come back broken.  He wasn’t sure how to feel about it, not when it felt so much like gaining and losing everything all at once.

“That’s true,” Genma finally replied.  “I guess it’s a good thing the payoff was just your legs.”

“Yes...just my legs...”

“How else would you complete your daily laps around the village?”  

Gai looked at him confused.  Genma continued, “You need working arms to walk on your hands, don’t you?”  

Before Genma knew what was happening, he was encased in the aforementioned arms, his head straining at a weird angle as to keep the senbon in his mouth from stabbing a laughing, smiling, and sobbing Gai.  

“YOSH!  I WILL COMPLETE FIVE HUNDRED LAPS OF THE VILLAGE ON MY HANDS ONCE I HAVE RECOVERED!”  Gai’s voice boomed in Genma’s ear.  It was only because Gai was in the hospital that Genma held back from moving his head in a position where the senbon  _would be_  stabbing Gai.  Gai pulled back slightly to look Genma in the eyes, “You, of course, will join me, won’t you, teammate?”

Oh no.   _Ooooh no_.  Genma was not going to give into that.  But Gai was looking so hopeful, and he had almost died, and what was Konoha without her Green Beast.   _Dammit_.  “I’ll join you—”

“YOSH!”

“—for a couple.”  Genma sighed.  How did Gai always get him into these sorts of situations?

 

* * *

 

Eventually Gai is released from the Hospital—his delight only just barely overshadowing that of the hospital staff’s relief.  He is with Lee and Tenten, seated in a wheelchair he has had time to acclimate to in the hospital, although still feels cumbersome; a burden to carry the rest of his life, in spite of all that it helps.  But Gai picks up burdens as training weights, and a wheelchair isn’t going to be the end of him.  

Gai has been told to take things easy, to go home and rest.  But no one protests when he bends down, hands to the rough, rocky, dirt road—not felt through all the years and years of callouses not even his time convalescing can erase—and flips his universe upside-down.  It is different than it was before—where he used to use his legs for balance, they are now dead weight, pulling him backwards.  He ignores Lee and Tenten behind him; two-thirds of his students are left after the war, and he loves them all the more for the other’s absence.  But this is his recovery, his chance to take back something normal.  It takes a moment or two for him to adjust, but Gai has always been dynamic, and so he manages with the flair and finesse that only Konoha’s Handsome Green Beast can achieve.

When Gai is steady on his heads, he cannot contain the whoop of joy that leaves him, so filled with Youth and Excitement, the force almost knocks him backwards.  There’s a moment where he sways, Tenten rushing up behind him, ready to catch him.  But then, using his off-momentum, Gai—with all the panache he is known for—spins on one hand, the other in his patented thumbs up—err...thumbs down?  Gai flips his hand so that his thumb is pointing to the sky, so that his audience can receive the full brunt of his joy.  

“YOSH!  Today is an Excellent day for Completing Five Hundred Laps of the Village on my hands!  Who is Ready to Join me?”

“I AM READY, GAI-SENSEI!”  Lee is already on his hands before he finishes speaking.  Two pairs of bushy brows under shining eyes stare up at Tenten.

“Doesn’t someone need to push the chair?” Tenten hedges, dreading the thought of so much over-the-top exercise.

“Excellent Idea, Tenten!” Gai booms, spinning on a single hand once more to face away from her.  “Yosh!  Let us Prove that Nothing can Stand in the Way of Youth!”

But before they can move, they are interrupted.

“You’re always jumping the gun, Gai,” a low voice pops in from the left, causing three heads to turn and stare.  Tenten is already gaping, a light blush dusting her cheeks.  Gai and Lee look up-up-up past ninja sandals, bandaged calves, jounin blues, and the village’s iconic green flack vest. They continue past a shifting senbon perched in half-smiling lips, until finally settling on playful brown eyes.  “Yo,” Genma adds with a two finger wave.

“Genma!  My illustrious Former Teammate!  My Team and I were—”

Instead of listening, Genma casually bends over, until his hands, too, are on the ground, before pushing his legs over his head and into the air.  His hair flops over his headband, but luckily stays out of his eyes.  “Let’s get going, Gai, mini-Gai, and cutie-Gai.  I don’t have all day.”

“Yosh!  Your Eagerness to Engage in our Training has Fanned the Flames of Youthful Vigour inside of me!  I feel as if I can Complete  _Six Hundred Laps_!”  Gai sets off, Genma on his left, easily keeping pace.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves...” Genma adds, even knowing it’s for naught.

Behind them, Lee and Tenten are frozen in place, cheeks red as they watch their sensei and his friend walking further and further away from them.

Tenten sighs wistfully; she hadn’t though someone could make handstands attractive.  Beside her, Lee finally slips from his trance.

“He...he called me cutie-Gai...” Lee mutters, hearts in his eyes.

“WHAT?” Tenten shrieks from beside him.

But Lee is already gone, running to catch up with the two jounin.

“YOU’RE NOT CUTE AT ALL!” She yells after him, just barely remembering to roll the wheelchair along with her as she makes her own persuit. “He was  _obviously_  talking about  _me_!”

 

* * *

 

Gai is used to hearing peals of laughter when he races around the village, competing in odder and odder challenges—whether against his Eternal Rival or just himself.  But today the streets are quiet when Genma, Lee, Tenten, and he walk by.  Until there is shuffling to his right, and another set of hands come into view.

“Yo,” falls casually from behind masked lips, complete with two happy eye creases, instead of the usual one.

“LEE!  GAI-SENSEI!” comes a boisterous voice from behind, before two more hands and the scent of ramen drop in next to them.

“Hey!  Don’t think you can leave  _me_  outta this!” bellows a rough voice from the same direction, accompanied by two clawed hands, four paws, and excited barking.

“SHANNARO!” heralds pink hair and ten more hands—a blonde ponytail, the scent of barbecue chips, the soothing buzz of kikaichuu, a doujutsu, and a lazy occupant for the wheelchair, who can’t help the muttered ‘troublesome,’ that slips past his lips.

Shinobi and kunoichi alike join their impromptu, upside-down parade, from all walks of life.

By the time they have hit the three-quarter mark through the village, Ebisu’s voice can be heard vehemently denying the endless tales Genma and Gai insist on sharing with his own students—Konohamaru laughing so hard he’s on his back, Udon and Moegi fairing only slightly better.  Chouza is chuckling to himself by his son, while Chouji is working up the courage to ask Genma and Gai for stories about his dad.  Shikamaru is napping with Mirai now in his lap, while Kurenai pushes the wheelchair so Tenten can join in on the marathon.  

Gai is never more grateful to be alive.


End file.
